District 150's first chief legal officer gets down to business

PEORIA — Public school districts in Elgin, Joliet, Rockford and Normal, among others, have their own attorneys on staff. Add Peoria School District 150 to the list.

Rick Rettberg, the district’s first chief legal officer, took his place at the horseshoe at the school district’s July 21 meeting, a fairly tame affair where only six of the 11 people who made public comments lambasted the district.

Rettberg was baptized in the fires that can be District 150 board meetings even before he left Nashville, Tenn., where he was general counsel for the 13 million-member United Methodist Church.

The night he was hired, May 12, board members faced the ire of citizens outraged at approximately $130,000 spent in legal fees to investigate testing irregularities at Charter Oak Primary School. As a former school board president in Downers Grove, Rettberg said he’s accustomed to pointed comments coming from the speakers’ podium.

“People have a right to say what they want,” he said. “The board should listen.”

But it’s not the public comments he wants to squelch. It’s the lawsuits.

“A major focus for me is to do a kind of triage on legal matters and handle them in a way that people don’t feel the need to file lawsuits against the district and the district doesn’t have to defend itself,” he said.

That may be one of the tougher cases of a long legal career.

District 150 deals with the same legal challenges as school districts of similar size, said Stan Eisenhammer, a partner in the Arlington Heights-based law firm which represents Peoria public schools. “The only difference is Peoria gets sued more.”

The school district’s previous counsel, David Walvoord, an attorney with a local law firm that had represented the district for more than 40 years, made a similar judgment when he retired in 2010.

Eisenhammer’s firm, Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick and Kohn, is one of the state’s largest law firms specializing in school law. District 150 will retain the firm as outside legal counsel, a common situation in large school districts.

Legal issues in education can be so varied and complex, from property transactions to special education and labor negotiations, that a single person can’t handle it alone. But District 150 School Board President Debbie Wolfmeyer expects Rettberg’s position eventually will save money for the district.

District 150 currently spends about $1 million a year on legal costs. As Rettberg becomes more familiar with the district, he will be able to take over more of the work handled by the outside firm. Rettberg will earn $150,000 a year under a three-year contract.

Though Rettberg had a month to help his successor at the United Methodist Church made the transition, he’s starting from scratch in Peoria.

He’s already involved in early negotiations with the bus drivers’ union. He’ll be involved in talks between the district and the board of Quest Charter Academy as the charter school seeks to renew its five-year contract.

Wolfmeyer and Superintendent Grenita Lathan said convenience is one of the biggest assets of having an attorney down the hallway. He will be able to give advice and answer questions before a matter becomes a lawsuit.

For Rettberg, who describes himself as a lifelong learner, the new job is yet another chance to reinvent himself.

As general counsel for United Methodist Church worldwide for seven years, he oversaw legal issues ranging from child sexual abuse cases to property and employment litigation. He often wrote friend of the court briefs, including a significant one on church governance to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Despite 30 years of broad litigation experience at McKenna Storer in Chicago, Rettberg said when he was hired by the church, officials also were interested in the 17 years he served on the school board of Downers Grove Grade School District 58.

“They thought that meant I knew how to handle the politics.”

Rettberg’s experience working for a religious denomination may transfer to District 150. At the last board meeting, teachers’ union president Jeff Adkins-Dutro suggested setting aside a day for a community-wide “Pray 150.”

Pam Adams can be reached at 686-3245 or padams@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @padamspam.